a lot that was undeveloped on what historically had been vegetable gardens in the past was problematic. at best it was a dog run and frequently had weeds that had to be cut by property owners and fenced off from the sidewalk by a wooden fence that was probl problematic at times when you could walk around it, but didn't have line of site. and since the little city garden has come and a chain link sense at street side at cotter, people have not only are they engaged visually by the garden, but the adjacent 38 neighbors have security because of the activity on the lot. there are many benefits and establishing an urban garden but for the immediate community it was to be engaged by people who were serious and had a vision. they accepted the challenge and we have benefitted from it. i would like to say that the

fencing requirement, in fact, to build another wooden fence to cut off line of sight would lessen security for the adjacent neighbors. also, the idea of value added, there isn't, as has been said before, there isn't a lot of money you are going to make out of a lot this size but to allow them to realize what value they can for the effort they are making would be a good idea. >> i am brooke buttner and operating 3/4 acre farm in the mission terrace neighborhood. little city guard season a small business and an experiment in the economic viability and we grow salad greens, cooking greens and culinary herbs that we can't wait to sell to san francisco residents and restaurants. we started a year ago because we recognized something that san

francisco lacked. at the time there were no commercial urban farms operating in the city. we felt strongly that if we were going to see an increase in efficient food production in san francisco, we also needed to see a viable business model for an urban farm, so we set out to design a model that could work for us. and we imagined there would be unforeseen obstacles to running a business in the city but also meaningful work. and we were right on both accounts. and the first was that the current zoning code prevents us from selling the produce we grow because we are in a residential neighborhood. i am happy to be here today to encourage you to pass the code which will allow us to sell the produce. and to give you a sense of scale, we are aiming to produce between 50 to 75 pounds of produce per week. as far as the proposed amendments to the legislation, i urge you to include them.

and it may seem like a small detail, the requirement to install decorative fencing could be an undue financial burden for a small farm business. little city garden, like many other urban farms, operates on a va lant lot under a land use agreement that is temporary in nature. to impose the expensive fencing regulations puts an unfair burden. >> and i look forward to the future when i hope we will be working together again with the fertile land. >> thank you. commissioner borden: maria butler, allison butler, and four cards left and hopefully we can start our discussion. >> i am actually cuts in line. thank you very much, commissioners. i am a neighbor and i am directly next to the lot and been there for 42 years.

and i wanted to say that i am amazed by the support, wow. but i am very, very happy with it. when they first came, i was skeptical, but it gives a warm feeling to the neighborhood and everybody who stops by looks and has a nice comment to make. i have not heard not one derogatory statement from anybody. thank you and we do approve. >> thank you. i broke my own rule, but the fewer the interruptions between the speakers and the quicker we get through the hearing and hopefully move it to the board. go ahead. >> good afternoon, commissioners. i am a legal fellow for the bright line fence project and we urge you on behalf of bright line to support the zoning proposal with the amendments proposed by san francisco urban agricultural alliance and

promoting sustainability in disadvantaged neighborhoods and we are committed to protecting and empowers communities particularly in the southeast sector of the city. any time one lowers the cost of urban farming or community gardening, you can increase the accessibility and make it easier to start them. and these gardens also allow community members to pursue healthier lifestyles and more importantly, economic opportunities by allowing the sale of value added products and pooled produce. we urge you to amend and pass the current proposal in order to realize the full potential and thank you for your support. commissioner borden: thank you. >> and we have some letters that we managed to get late to you. commissioner borden: thank you. and we believe we received the email as well from joshua. rachel chung, isabel wade, dart kaufmann, melinda stone. those are the remainder of the cards.

>> as one of the 250 workers on the behalf of the democratically elected rain bow ecology support, we would like to support our voice for item seven. and rain bow grocery is a member of san francisco urban agricultural alliance and our store has been providing local organic produce to san francisco residents for 30 years and we welcome this opportunity to empower the community members to begin and continue producing fresh food for themselves and our community. thank you. commissioner borden: thank you. >> i am co-owner of little city gardens. and as a contributor to the

value driven economy and excited by the potential of farms in my city and i urge you to pass this amendment with the amendments set forth. and since much of the farmable rand is located in there and our farm, a commercial operation, and has fit into the residential neighborhood. my partner and i work on site 40 hours a week using mostly hand tools and occasionally a weed whacker or rote tiller for larger tasks. we hold -- this is the before and after photo for folks. and we hold two volunteer days hosting 1 to 10 and received zero complaints about noise and we have been told we are very good neighborhoods. and it illustrates that it is a relatively quiet activity and creating less noise than a landscaper and less traffic than

an occasional household dinner party. i have experienced the fulfilling relationships that form around a farm in a residential neighborhood. we are visited by neighbors daily and some who pass by to say hello and check on the progress of the crops and others who offer platters of hot tea and others watch us work and share story of their farmer grandparent and others who help us dig and many who stop in to ask when they will finally be able to buy some of our cabbage. i feel that our farm has become an integral part of the residential neighborhood by presenting a connection to something we share, the need for food. i suspect if we sell the produce, the garden will continue to be unobstrewsive part of the neighborhood and we are in the city together surrounded by each other and we need to embrace activities that can be healthy for us. >> thank you.

>> hi. thank you for having all of us. i am dana pearls. and also a member of pesticide watch which is a nonprofit organization that helps citizen groups across california develop sustainable solutions for dealing with pests instead of toxic pesticides. our mission is to work side by side with californians to prevent pesticide exposure, promote local farming and build healthier communities. as people are becoming more aware of both the dangers of pesticide use and the need for more sustainable food system, we need to engage with the local organic pesticide free movement. we are here to support this ordinance and the amendments. we are in the middle of the food fight and just the past 30 years large pesticide corporations have muscled into controlling the support of our produce and the seeds for the plants and as a result have set the scale so that now a hamburger at mcdonald's is often more affordable than a head of cabbage at a grocery store.

we know that local agriculture can increase food security in terms of nutrition and reduce greenhouse gas emission and reduce the use of pesticides. we have many people in san francisco who are dedicated to providing local, healthy, organic produce in community and market gardens which will improve this city and region's health and create greater access to safe nontoxic food. this will bring nothing but benefits to the city and communities, local market, consumers, local faerms and the city's ecosystem. and on behalf of pesticide watch and the san francisco urban ag alliance, support urban agriculture and access to nontoxic foods. please support this ordinance. >> thank you. >> in brief, i am a neighbor of the property and adjoins the

farm and i support it and all my neighbors support it, too. and it's wonderful and it o's the best thing to happen in the neighborhood in the five years i have been there. commissioner borden: thank you. >> good afternoon, commissioners. and the mission statement for the california act association is promote and protect agricultural and am impressed with the turnout you had here today. and to us no matter how large or small is still practicing the art of kl cultural. and in the past we're in support. however, i want to let you know that there are after the regulations already in place for direct marketing that would alie here. i am here to answer any

questions and we are ready and willing and open to discussions commissioner borden: great. some commissioners might have questions for you if you can say. >> yes, i have time. >> i would like to thank the economy and the land use practice and hope you can create the precedent to reference by editing that and i have some comments about urban agriculture that has numerous benefits to the health urban agriculture is not extremely lucrative. and i ask that you create a code

that allows the urban farms to be valuable. and to be economically sustainable and they require the low overhead and directly to the market. and especially value added products. and to gleam code language for the guidelines for on site sale of value added products and number six and is unnecessary and i ask it not be included. commissioner borden: thank you. next speaker, please. and casey alan is the last card. secretary avery: madam president, we have been informed we do have overflow in room 408 just down the hall and for those who have already spoken, we ask that you go to that room so those who have not spoken have an opportunity to stay here and sit in this room and be heard.

if you have spoken already, please go to room 408 because now that we have overflow, we cannot allow you to stand on the sides of the room. we were breaking the rules to accommodate everybody. again, if you have spoken, please go to the overflow room. there is a television there and you can hear everything that goes on. if you still want to speak, you can come back in. commissioner borden: you can stay sitting down if you like. i don't know if there are many people out in the hall left. a few left out.

>> commissioners, may i start? we have been promoting the urban alliance and i am excite to be here in support of the legislation and the amendments of the urban alliance and i wanted to specifically address the value added concept that i feel is very important to change in the legislation. value added is especially significant looking at urban agriculture around the world in families related to women and

children and health. the additional income is used to supplement a low food budget and it is for meez fooezable to urn income through the valuable added products is an important component. and it is, as the one gentleman pointed out becoming a global phenomenon and i think we have to treat it as a serious subject. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> i am a professor of environmental studies and co-direct the garden project on campus and i wanted to speak on behalf of my students who are enrolled in an urban ag program at the university.

and instead of me representing them, i would like to turn it over to one of my students. this is the future of urban ag. >> hi. i am katie trendas and i go to university of san francisco. i am a -- as well as a bunch of the kids, we were sitting over there. we're all part of the garden project and we run a small garden on campus and we have gotten a lot of support on campus. it hasn't been going on for long -- >> it is the rain, sorry. >> i was wondering what that was. but basically i find it incredibly inspiring as a student that once i gadgraduate can potentially stay in the city i love and pursue a line of work that i am passionate about and take care of myself with the

money that i could get or just be a part of something greater than this food corporation. i can just do something that is meaningful and helps the community. commissioner borden: thank you. >> we grow foods for people in the backyards and put in gray water systems and rainwater catching and sustainable landscaping and we are supportive of this and are part of the urban ag alliance and i wanted to speak to some of your concerns. i haven't had a chance to speak with many of you to hear your concerns, but i have talked with a lot of people in the community and by allowing sales in a neighborhood we really are

possibly infringing on someone's quality of life and a lot of traffic and impacts and we want to minimize those and acknowledge that. i have a couple of ideased about how to minimize those impacts and i heard a couple of questions about the 6:00 a.m. in the morning and this is not my business and this is me as a citizen and i, too, have a little bit of a concern about 6:00 a.m. and maybe 8:00 a.m. or something like that would be good. and i have an yt about keeping the scale of this small and proposing a gross sales cap on how much you can sell at a particular site. and this is in regards to pooling the resources of many gardens at one location and suggesting $200,000 as a cap to sales as something you could

consider to allow pooled resources. i have a letter here and in that i have some proposed language and i am not a planner or really well versed in this, and so please take it as a suggestion. thank you for your time and this is the first time i have been to a meeting whether where there is no opposition. amazing. >> thank you. >> i have been volunteering at little city garden since last summer and for me it is touching to see people pass by and wave and give encouraging smiles and neighbors chath and being neighborly and in a time it's

rare to act neighborly and when i say good, i simply mean good. such projects exemplify reverence, gratitude, and perhaps respect towards our food, towards our land, and towards each other. and i hope city legislation will reflect and encouragement to support such projects and strengthen local community and encourage the growth of the local economy. i hope in the near future more urban act projects would take root. thank you. >> i am alley buttner and i am incredibly proud to be here today. i wear several different hats. one is as a producer for a local public radio station in san francisco and we value everything that is going on locally that is community based and community oriented and the other part is i work indoors almost all the time and at

computers and i go almost every day that i can after work to little city garden and it provides an incredible haifsh for -- an incredible haven for me and so many people in san francisco who work indoor jobs to have access to volunteer and get their local food and just be in a place with plants and trees and people outside is enormously valuable. i am a medical herbalist and value having land open in the city for growing herbs for teas and various things and the third hat is that brooke is my sister and her partner, and i have watched with amazing passion and thoroughness and dedication work

towards this goal. it's just amazing to see where it is now. >> good afternoon, commissioners. eam here to speak in support of the proposal and i think everyone has covered the nitty-gritty issues and those who focuses on helping the who focuses on helping the customer and their children learn to garden and this was give them the reason to invest time and energy and it is not a simple thing to do, not rocket sign, but it does take some commitment and one of the

obstacobthat sta kls is why to -- and one of the obstacles is why put in all this time for their own plot and that might encourage them and i wanted to put my word in. thank you very much. >> thank you for letting more of us speak. i live in glen park and i am a small business owner and a photographer for many years and the past 10 years i have photographed food and farming issues. and i am here to show -- and i am also a member of the san francisco urban ag and alliance and here to show my support for this obviously and support the amendments proposed by the alliance. i have had the opportunity to visit urban ag efforts in los angeles, atlanta, chicago, and other cities. all of these efforts and farms

that i have seen boost their economies and beautify the vacant lots and enhance the community gathering places to educate people about food production. and i have seen firsthand how the food producing green spaces are a source for social, visual, and economic goodness. all of them are nonprofit organizations which are great. they rely on donation and volunteer power and grant donation, not always the most sustainable stream. we care about sustainability in climate change and dwindling resources. former mayor newsome's healthy food directive commits to local

food production as a path to a more sustainable future. if they want to encourage successful, sustainable urban ag, i ask that you amend the proposal to create city policy that makes it economically sustainable to grow food locally. thank you. we have two mr. speakers -- we have two mr. speakers. >> i am a neighbor and i have a letter in from another neighbor. they are wonderful neighbors and it's been an improvement to the neighborhood and my grandparents grew up in the city and talked about the cows and the neighborhood and the produce cart coming by and it's when i want to be part of the horses in

glen canyon and that is long gone. anyway, i want my kids to have it, too. >> hello. i am here representing myself and the students and i came to support this proposal because i work and volunteer and am involved with person with a few community gardens here in the city. and because i am a student and my schedule is very tight around my studies, it was very hard for me to find employment and at a certain point i had to look for four or five months to find a job. and if it was easier for me to sell for my house and to grow and the produce that i know how to make and make it much easier for me to get to the end of the month. and i hope this will pass so

students like me can make an easier living. commissioner borden: thank you. is there any additional public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. commissioner borden. commissioner borden: i am so enthusiastic about the legislation and it is a wonderful thing. i am the granddaughter of farmers and spent time in the summer picking strawberries on a much larger farm and my parents had in our suburban neighborhood a garden in the backyard and used to try to keep the rabbits out as kids and it was an exciting experience. one of my favorite things in the city is to walk through the garden at fort mason close to where i live and the small example of the urban gardening and a friend who had a plot by candlestick point and i know what a difference the urban farms make an the important aspect of the city and i saw something on link tv if you grew in new york city on the top of the high-rise buildings, you

could provide enough food production for the city of new york and mr. sanchez, a few questions about the legislation and i wanted to ask you how this would apply to roof tops if people wanted to garden on rooftops. >> and roof top gardening is included in the neighborhood agriculture use in the present iteration of the ordinance. commissioner borden: that is great. and can you talk about a few things. the fencing is not mandatory in the legislation, is that correct? >> that is correct. there is no requirement to youth fencing and we would like users to comply with the ornamental fencing regulations. commissioner borden: what about green screen and what would be considered -- ornamental can sound expensivexpensive. >> tiff definition and includes -- i have the definition and chain link or woven wire fences in areas visible from the public right-of-way with rails on the top and